Network signaling for network-assisted interference cancellation and suppression

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a cellular communication network that can determine whether communications between one base station-UE pair may interfere with another UE that is in the same cell or a different cell. The network identifies interference parameters associated with interference signals that may be received by a UE. The interference signals may be generated by the base station itself, such as communications with other UEs, or by a neighboring base station. The base station transmits the interference parameters to the UE. The UE receives the one or more parameters comprising information about signals expected to cause intra-cell or inter-cell interference. The UE then processes received signals using the one or more parameters to suppress the intra-cell or inter-cell interference.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/285,759 filed on May 3, 2014, which claims the benefit of the filingdate of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/833,765, filed onJun. 11, 2013, titled “Method and Apparatus for Network Signaling forNetwork-Assisted Interference Cancellation and Suppression,” the entirecontent of each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field of this invention is wireless communication such aswireless telephony.

BACKGROUND

A cellular wireless network comprises multiple base stations, where eachbase station transmits to (downlink) and receives from (uplink) aplurality of mobile users in its coverage area. In the downlink, eachuser receives data from its serving base station (or serving cell).Signals from neighboring base stations may impose inter-cellinterference. Because all base stations in a particular cellularwireless network operate on the same spectrum, interference isconsidered to be a major bottleneck for cellular communications. Thisbecomes more of a problem as the base station density continues to growrapidly due to the deployment of low-power, small-form-factor basestations (i.e., small-cells). As such, mitigating co-channelinterference is an increasingly important factor for continuous datarate and spectral-efficiency improvement in cellular networks.

SUMMARY

A cellular communication network is aware of which base stations arecommunicating with which UEs, and can determine that communicationsbetween one base station-UE pair may interfere with another UE that isin the same cell or a different cell. The network may notify a basestation of communications in a neighboring cell that may causeinterference. Alternatively, the base station may determine thatcommunications to UEs within the base station's own cell may causeinterference.

The base station identifies interference parameters associated withinterference signals that may be received by a UE. The interferencesignals may be generated by the base station itself, such ascommunications with other UEs, or by a neighboring base station. Thebase station transmits the interference parameters to the UE. The one ormore parameters identify a number of interference signals that mayaffect the user equipment. The interference parameters may besemi-statically configured, such as by RRC signaling or they may bedynamically configured by the network or base station.

The base station may include a processor circuit that generates a bitmapindicating whether each of a plurality of interference sources arepresent and then transmits the bitmap to the user equipment.

In other embodiments, the base station may signal a first set ofparameters to UEs on a wideband basis, and signal a second set ofparameters to UEs on a narrow-band basis. For example, the first set ofparameters may be applicable to all PRBs in assigned frequencyresources, and the second set of parameters applicable to each PRB pairor each PRG in an assigned frequency resource of the UE.

The interference parameters may identify, for example, one or more of:

-   -   Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) antenna ports;    -   DMRS antenna port scrambling sequence initialization        identification number (nSCID);    -   a power level of an interference signal;    -   a transmission rank of an interference signal;    -   a modulation order of an interference signal;    -   a code rate of an interference signal;    -   a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) of an interference        signal;    -   a cell ID of a neighboring interfering cell; and    -   a System-Frame-Number (SFN) of an interference signal.

The UE receives the one or more parameters comprising information aboutsignals expected to cause intra-cell or inter-cell interference. The UEprocesses received signals using the one or more parameters to suppressthe intra-cell or inter-cell interference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects of this invention are illustrated in thedrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates inter-cell interference in a cellular network.

FIG. 2 illustrates intra-cell interference in a cellular network.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of physical channelprocessing of LTE downlink at the base station.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for notifying userequipment of possible intra-cell and inter-cell interference signalsaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating internal details of a mobile userequipment and a base station operating in a network system such asillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention(s) will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The invention(s) may, however,be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed aslimited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, andwill fully convey the scope of the invention(s) to a person of ordinaryskill in the art. A person of ordinary skill in the art may be able touse the various embodiments of the invention(s).

FIG. 1 illustrates inter-cell interference in a cellular network. Wheninter-cell interference occurs, the interference arises from neighboringbase stations that are transmitting to other users in neighboring cells.A typical cellular network has no coordination between different basestations and, therefore, the inter-cell interference appears to a mobileuser as random radio signals.

System 100 is a cellular network, such as a 3GPP Long Term Evolution(LTE) system. Base station 101, such as a LTE eNodeB, serves userequipment (UE) 102 and other devices (not shown) in cell 103. Basestation 104 serves UE 105 and other devices (not shown) in cell 106. UE102 receives downlink communications 107 from base station 101, and UE105 receives downlink communications 108 from base station 104.Unfortunately, these downlink transmissions also reach into neighboringcells. As a result, UE 102 receives both its intended downlinkcommunications 107 from base station 101 and unwanted communications 108from neighboring base station 104. Similarly, UE 105 receives both itsintended downlink communications 108 from base station 104 and unwantedcommunications 110 from neighboring base station 101. These unwantedcommunication signals cause inter-cell interference at UEs 102, 105.

FIG. 2 illustrates intra-cell interference in a cellular network.Intra-cell interference arises when one serving base station transmitsto one or multiple co-scheduled users in the same cell. For example,multi-user multiple-input and multiple-output (MU-MIMO) in LTE follows atransparent design principle through Release 8-11, wherein a UE has noinformation about the presence, or the property of, any co-scheduledusers in the same cell. In other words, a UE is unaware whether it isscheduled in single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) mode or paired with another userin MU-MIMO mode.

Base station 201 serves both UE 202 and UE 203 in cell 204. Downlinktransmissions 205 are intended for UE 202, and downlink transmissions206 are intended for UE 203. However, UE 202 may also receivetransmissions 207, which are intended for UE 203 or some other device incell 204. Transmissions 207 cause intra-cell interference for UE 202.Similarly, transmissions 208, which are intended for UE 202 or someother device in cell 204, cause intra-cell interference for UE 203.

In recent years, advanced MIMO receivers have been gradually implementedby mobile handset manufacturers and chipset vendors to achieve betterMIMO decoding performance. In addition to decoding its own signal, it ispossible for an advanced MIMO receiver to blindly suppress/decode theintra/inter-cell interference through brute-force search, which maysignificantly improve the downlink signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and datathroughput. Although this is feasible and requires no standardizationsupport, it is still very challenging in terms of UE complexity, powerconsumption, and chipset size despite recently improvements in UEreceiver design. Alternatively, it is speculated that if the network maysignal the interference property to the UE, the UE may exploit suchinformation to achieve better interference cancellation and suppression,with a reasonably low UE complexity. Such additional downlink signalingof interference property may result in new downlink control signaling incellular networks.

These issues are discussed herein along with proposals for:

-   -   possible information concerning downlink interference to be        signaled by the network;    -   methods of signaling such information by the network; and    -   a mechanism for mobile receivers to receive and exploit such        signaled interference information.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of physical channelprocessing of LTE downlink at the base station. Codewords 301 undergoscrambling 302 and modulation mapping 303. A layer mapper 304 createslayers 305 that are precoded 306 and then mapped to resource elements307. OFDM signals are then generated 308 and transmitted via assignedantenna ports 309.

In a conventional wireless system, a UE decodes only its own signals,such as signals intended for the UE on the Physical Downlink SharedChannel (PDSCH). MIMO receivers may be categorized as linear ornon-linear. For linear MIMO receivers, an equalization matrix (R×Nr) isapplied to the received signal vector (Nr×1) to remove the inter-layerinterference, wherein R is the number of data layers and Nr is thenumber of receive antennas. Per-layer demodulation and decoding is thenperformed (e.g., de-scrambling, de-interleaving, demodulation, anddecoding). Popular linear MIMO receivers include the zero-forcingreceiver, linear MMSE receiver, and linear MMSE receiver withinterference-rejection combining.

For non-linear MIMO receivers, decoding and demodulation of multiplelayers are not independent but instead involves each other.

For a maximum-likelihood (ML) receiver, the decoder exhaustivelysearches all possible Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)constellation combinations of R layers for the best Nr×1 QAM symbolvector. ML decoder is optimal in terms of symbol error rate, but has acomplexity that grows exponentially with R.

A successive interference cancellation receiver is also possible wherethe receiver decodes a first layer, reconstructs the first layer,subtracts the resultant interference from the residual signal, and thenproceeds to decode a second layer. Both soft and hard interferencecancellations are possible. With soft interference cancellation, in onescenario, inter-layer interference is constructed by estimating soft QAMconstellations of the first layer without channel decoding.Alternatively it is also possible to decode the transport block and usethe soft information and parity bits to reconstruct the interference.With hard interference cancellation, the first layer is channel decodedto generate the original transport block (TB), where information bit ofthe 1st layer is then re-encoded, re-modulated, re-scrambled to generateinter-layer interference which is subtracted from the residual signals.

For advanced interference cancellation/suppression receiver, similaralgorithms as for SU-MIMO can be applied, except that the target UEneeds to decode its own signal (i.e., source signal) as well as signalsmeant for other users (i.e., interference signals). As such, informationregarding the presence and/or the property of the co-scheduled user isrequired to facilitate the UE receiver operation, which shall besignaled by the network. The following sections discuss information thatmay be signaled by the network for interference cancellation and/orsuppression.

In one embodiment, the network may send one or more parameters relatedto an interference signal, such as a subset of the parameters discussedbelow. A UE may exploit the information represented by these parametersfor intra-cell and/or inter-cell interference cancellation and/orsuppression.

Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) antenna port(s). The network mayidentify DMRS antenna port(s) on which the UE may assume thatinterference signal is transmitted. For example, when a target UEreceives PDSCH on antenna port 7, the network may signal to the UE thatan interference signal is being transmitted on antenna port 8 to anotherUE. The UE may process the received signals accordingly to minimizeinterference.

DMRS antenna port scrambling sequence initialization identificationnumber (n_(SCID)). For each DMRS antenna port of an interference signal,the n_(SCID) is signaled to the target UE. The n_(SCID) is used by thetarget UE to generate the scrambling sequence of the DMRS port of theinterference signal.

Power level of the interference signal. The network may signal the powerlevel of the interference signal to a UE. The signaled power level maybe the power of DMRS antenna port(s) of the interference signal and/orthe power of PDSCH of the interference signal. The interference signalpower level may be signaled either in the form of absolute power (e.g.,dBm), or as a relative power ratio with respect to a reference power.For example, if PDSCH of the target UE is used as the default referencepower, the network may signal to the target UE the ratio of PDSCH powerof the interference signal to the PDSCH power of the target UE. Thetarget UE may use such information to derive proper receiver weightingfor channel estimation, PDSCH decoding, and interference cancellationand suppression.

Transmission rank of the interference signal. The network may signal thetransmission rank (e.g., the number of PDSCH layers) of the interferencesignal. The number of PDSCH layers is equivalent to the number of DMRSantenna ports in DMRS-based transmission. One reason for the network toprovide this signaling is due to the fact that the DMRS pattern,overhead, PDSCH mapping pattern, and PDSCH power is a function of thetransmission rank.

For example, for rank-½ PDSCH transmission, the DMRS overhead is 12Resource Elements (RE)/Physical Resource Block (PRB), and for rank-¾PDSCH transmission the DMRS overhead is 24 RE/PRB. Since PDSCH israte-matched around DMRS, the PDSCH mapping pattern will also bedifferent for rank-½ and rank-¾.

For rank-½, the power of PDSCH on each antenna port is equivalent to thepower of the corresponding DMRS antenna port. For rank-¾, the power ofPDSCH on each antenna port is 3 dB lower than (e.g., 50% of) the powerof the corresponding DMRS antenna port.

As such, by signaling the rank of the interference PDSCH signal, thenetwork enables the target UE to correctly interpret the transmissionproperties of the DMRS as well as the PDSCH of the interference signal.Alternatively, instead of signaling the channel rank, the network mayuse 1-bit to signal the DMRS overhead (12 RE/PRB or 24 RE/PRB) or thePDSCH mapping pattern.

Modulation order. The network may signal the modulation order (e.g.,Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16 QAM, 64 QAM, etc.) of theinterference signal. This information may be used by UE employing softinterference cancellation, based on which the UE may decode symbol-levelQAM of the interference signal without performing channel decoding.

Code rate of the interference signal. The code rate of the interferencesignal may be used by a UE employing hard interference cancellation,based on which the UE may decode the transport block of the interferencesignal through channel decoding. The LTE system currently does notsupport explicit signaling of the code rate. Instead, the network maysignal an index to the transport block size or the Modulation/CodingScheme (MCS). Combined with the frequency assignment size, the UE mayinterpret the code rate. Similarly for Network Assisted InterferenceCancellation and Suppression (NAICS), the network may signal an index tothe transport block size or MCS of the interference signal to the UE.The UE may, for example, assume that the interference signal and thesource PDSCH signal have the same frequency allocation (e.g.,interference and target PDSCH are allocated in the same set of PRBs), toobtain the Transport Block Size (TBS) of the interference signal.

n_(RNTI). The network may provide n_(RNTI), which corresponds to theRadio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) of the associated interferencesignal. n_(RNTI) is the UE-ID of the interfering UE to which theinterference signal is targeted. n_(RNTI) of the interference signal isrequired to reproduce the scrambling sequence for the interference PDSCHsignal and is also needed if the target UE wishes to decode theinterference signal transport block before performing hard interferencecancellation. n_(RNTI) may be signaled, for example, in the form of a“virtual UE-ID”.

Cell ID of the neighboring interfering cell. The network may signal thecell ID of an interfering cell if the interference arises from aneighboring base station's transmission (i.e., inter-cell interference).This information is required reproduce the scrambling sequence of theinterference PDSCH signal. The cell ID of the interference cell may beexplicitly signaled or signaled in the formed of a “virtual cell ID,”which the UE uses for generating the scrambling sequence of theinterference DMRS signal.

System-Frame-Number (SFN). If the SFN of the source signal and theinterference signals are not aligned, the network may signal the SFNvalue of the interference signal to the target UE. The SFN value of theinterference cell is required to generate the scrambling sequence of theinterference signal.

A target UE may receive multiple interference signals. For example, a UEmay receive a strong inter-cell interference signal from one neighboringcell, as well as an intra-cell interference signal arising from the sameserving cell that is transmitting to a co-scheduled user with MU-MIMO.As another example, single-cell MU-MIMO may co-schedule four users inthe same subframe in the same cell, in which case three intra-cellinterference signals are present at the UE. Therefore, the network maysignal the number of interference signals that a UE shall expect.

Alternatively, the network may signal a bit sequence, wherein each bitindicates the presence of a possible interference source (e.g., “0”indicating no interference is present and “1” indicating interference ispresent). The length of the bitmap (whether fixed or Radio ResourceControl (RRC)-signaled) may depend on the number of interference signalsthat a UE will expect in a typical cellular deployment, also taking intoaccount the overhead of network signaling. If the length of the bitmapis RRC-signaled, it implies that the network will indicate to the UE thenumber of interference signals that the UE should expect. For instance,in typical homogeneous deployment scenarios with only macro basestations, there may be only a few dominant interference signals, whichcalls for a small length for the bitmap. For a dense urban deploymentscenario with many low-power small cell base stations, a UE may receivea large number of interference signals, which calls for a larger bitmaplength. The interference parameters defined above or a subset thereofmay be independently signaled for each possible interference signal.

In one embodiment, the afore-mentioned interference parameters may besignaled on a wideband basis wherein the UE may assume that the signaledparameter(s) applies to all PRBs in its assigned frequency resources.Alternatively, these parameters may be signaled on a narrow-band basis,such as for each (PRB) pair or each Precoding Resource Block Group (PRG)in the assigned frequency resource of the target UE. It is not precludedthat some parameters are signaled on wideband basis, while otherparameters are signaled on narrow-band basis. For instance, the cell IDand SFN of the interference signal may be signaled on a wideband basis,while the n_(RNTI), DMRS port, n_(SCID) of the interference is signaledon a narrow-band basis.

The interference parameters may be semi-statically configured by RRCsignaling or provided to the UE via dynamic signaling (e.g., in downlink(DL) grant). For example, the cell ID and SFN of the interference signalmay be configured by RRC-signaling and remain constant for a relativelong time, since the neighboring cell generating inter-cell interferencemay not change frequently. On the other hand, n_(RNTI), DMRS port, DMRSscrambling of the interference signal may change subframe-to-subframeand can be signaled dynamically.

It is further noted that PDSCH rate-matching is UE-specific anddependent on the RRC-configured UE-specific signals (e.g., CSI-RS,zero-power CSI-RS, etc.). In one embodiment, the UE may assume that theinterference signal is rate-matched in the same manner with the sourcesignaled. In another embodiment, the UE may be signaled with the actualPDSCH mapping/rate-matching pattern of the interference signal. Howeverthis may incur significant signaling overhead and is not preferred.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for notifying UEs ofpossible intra-cell and inter-cell interference signals according to oneembodiment. A cellular communication network is aware of which basestations are communicating with which UEs, and can determine thatcommunications between one base station-UE pair may interfere withanother UE that is in the same cell or a different cell. The network maynotify a base station of communications in a neighboring cell that maycause interference. Alternatively, the base station may determine thatcommunications to UEs within the base station's own cell may causeinterference.

In step 401, the base station identifies interference parametersassociated with interference signals that may be received by a UE. Theinterference signals may be generated by the base station itself, suchas communications with other UEs, or by a neighboring base station. Instep 402, the base station transmits the interference parameters to theUE. The one or more parameters identify a number of interference signalsthat may affect the user equipment. The interference parameters may besemi-statically configured, such as by RRC signaling or they may bedynamically configured by the network or base station.

The base station may include a processor circuit that generates a bitmapindicating whether each of a plurality of interference sources arepresent and then transmits the bitmap to the user equipment.

In other embodiments, the base station may signal a first set ofparameters to UEs on a wideband basis, and signal a second set ofparameters to UEs on a narrow-band basis. For example, the first set ofparameters may be applicable to all PRBs in assigned frequencyresources, and the second set of parameters applicable to each PRB pairor each PRG in an assigned frequency resource of the UE.

The interference parameters may identify, for example, one or more of:

-   -   Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) antenna ports;    -   DMRS antenna port scrambling sequence initialization        identification number (nSCID);    -   a power level of an interference signal;    -   a transmission rank of an interference signal;    -   a modulation order of an interference signal;    -   a code rate of an interference signal;    -   a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) of an interference        signal;    -   a cell ID of a neighboring interfering cell; and    -   a System-Frame-Number (SFN) of an interference signal.

In step 403, the UE receives the one or more parameters comprisinginformation about signals expected to cause intra-cell or inter-cellinterference. In step 404, the UE processes received signals using theone or more parameters to suppress the intra-cell or inter-cellinterference.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating internal details of a mobile UE501 and a bases station 503, such as an eNB, operating in a networksystem such as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Mobile UE 501 may representany of a variety of devices such as a server, a desktop computer, alaptop computer, a cellular phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), asmart phone or other electronic devices. In some embodiments, theelectronic mobile UE 501 communicates with eNB 502 based on a LTE orEvolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) protocol.Alternatively, another communication protocol now known or laterdeveloped can be used.

Mobile UE 501 comprises a processor 503 coupled to a memory 504 and atransceiver 505. The memory 504 stores (software) applications 506 forexecution by the processor 503. The applications could comprise anyknown or future application useful for individuals or organizations.These applications could be categorized as operating systems (OS),device drivers, databases, multimedia tools, presentation tools,Internet browsers, emailers, Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) tools,file browsers, firewalls, instant messaging, finance tools, games, wordprocessors or other categories. Regardless of the exact nature of theapplications, at least some of the applications may direct the mobile UE501 to transmit UL signals to eNB (base station) 502 periodically orcontinuously via the transceiver 505.

Transceiver 505 includes uplink logic which may be implemented byexecution of instructions that control the operation of the transceiver.Some of these instructions may be stored in memory 504 and executed whenneeded by processor 503. As would be understood by one of skill in theart, the components of the uplink logic may involve the physical (PHY)layer and/or the Media Access Control (MAC) layer of the transceiver505. Transceiver 505 includes one or more receivers 507 and one or moretransmitters 508.

Processor 503 may send or receive data to various input/output devices509. A subscriber identity module (SIM) card stores and retrievesinformation used for making calls via the cellular system. A Bluetoothbaseband unit may be provided for wireless connection to a microphoneand headset for sending and receiving voice data. Processor 503 may sendinformation to a display unit for interaction with a user of mobile UE501 during a call process. The display may also display picturesreceived from the network, from a local camera, or from other sourcessuch as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector. Processor 503 may alsosend a video stream to the display that is received from various sourcessuch as the cellular network via RF transceiver 505 or the camera.

During transmission and reception of voice data or other applicationdata, transmitter 507 may be or become non-synchronized with its servingeNB. In this case, it sends a random access signal. As part of thisprocedure, it determines a preferred size for the next datatransmission, referred to as a message, by using a power threshold valueprovided by the serving eNB, as described in more detail above. In thisembodiment, the message preferred size determination is embodied byexecuting instructions stored in memory 504 by processor 503. In otherembodiments, the message size determination may be embodied by aseparate processor/memory unit, by a hardwired state machine, or byother types of control logic, for example.

In one embodiment, UE 501 receives interference parameters from basestation 502. Processor 503 uses the interference parameters to identifyand suppress interference signals received at receiver 507.

eNB 502 comprises a processor 510 coupled to a memory 511, symbolprocessing circuitry 512, and a transceiver 513 via backplane bus 514.The memory stores applications 515 for execution by processor 510. Theapplications could comprise any known or future application useful formanaging wireless communications. At least some of the applications 515may direct eNB 502 to manage transmissions to or from mobile UE 501.

Transceiver 513 comprises an uplink resource manager, which enables eNB502 to selectively allocate uplink Physical Uplink Shared CHannel(PUSCH) resources to mobile UE 501. As would be understood by one ofskill in the art, the components of the uplink resource manager mayinvolve the physical (PHY) layer and/or the Media Access Control (MAC)layer of the transceiver 513. Transceiver 513 includes at least onereceiver 515 for receiving transmissions from various UEs within rangeof eNB 502 and at least one transmitter 516 for transmitting data andcontrol information to the various UEs within range of eNB 502.

The uplink resource manager executes instructions that control theoperation of transceiver 513. Some of these instructions may be locatedin memory 511 and executed when needed on processor 510. The resourcemanager controls the transmission resources allocated to each UE 501served by eNB 502 and broadcasts control information via the PDCCH. UE501 may receive TTD UL/DL configuration instructions from eNB 502.

Symbol processing circuitry 512 performs demodulation using knowntechniques. Random access signals are demodulated in symbol processingcircuitry 512. During transmission and reception of voice data or otherapplication data, receiver 517 may receive a random access signal from aUE 501. The random access signal is encoded to request a message sizethat is preferred by UE 501. UE 501 determines the preferred messagesize by using a message threshold provided by eNB 502.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention(s) will cometo mind to one skilled in the art to which the invention(s) pertainhaving the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoingdescriptions, and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that the invention(s) are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed. Although specific terms are employed herein, theyare used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, at a userequipment (UE), two or more parameters comprising information aboutsignals expected to cause intra-cell or inter-cell interference at theUE; and processing received signals at the UE using the two or moreparameters to suppress the intra-cell or inter-cell interference,wherein the two or more parameters are configured by Radio ResourceControl (RRC)-signaling, and wherein the two or more parameters includea first parameter indicative of a power ratio of a neighboring cell anda second parameter indicative of a cell identification of theneighboring cell.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or moreparameters include one or more parameters that identify a number ofinterference signals that may affect the UE.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, at the UE, a bitmap indicating whethereach of a plurality of interference sources are present.
 4. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the UE, a first set ofparameters signaled on a wideband basis, the first set of parametersapplicable to all physical resource blocks (PRBs) in assigned frequencyresources; and receiving a second set of parameters signaled on anarrow-band basis, the second set of parameters applicable to each PRBpair or each Precoding Resource Block Group (PRG) in an assignedfrequency resource of the UE.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the twoor more parameters are semi-statically configured by Radio ResourceControl (RRC)-signaling.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the two ormore parameters include one or more parameters that identifyDemodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) antenna ports.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the two or more parameters include one or moreparameters that identify a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) antennaport scrambling sequence initialization identification number (nSCID).8. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more parameters include oneor more parameters that identify a power level of an interferencesignal.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more parametersinclude one or more parameters that identify a transmission rank of aninterference signal.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or moreparameters include one or more parameters that identify a modulationorder of an interference signal.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein thetwo or more parameters include one or more parameters that identify acode rate of an interference signal.
 12. The method of claim 1, whereinthe two or more parameters include one or more parameters that identifya Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) of an interference signal.13. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or more parameters includeone or more parameters that identify a cell ID of a neighboringinterfering cell.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the two or moreparameters include one or more parameters that identify a virtual cellID of a neighboring interfering cell used as an initialization seed forthe pseudo-random sequence generator for Demodulation Reference Signal(DMRS) of the neighboring interfering cell.
 15. The method of claim 1,wherein the two or more parameters include one or more parameters thatidentify a System-Frame-Number (SFN) of an interference signal andwherein the SFN of a source signal and the interference signal are notaligned.
 16. A user equipment device, comprising: a processor circuitconfigured to: receive interference parameters sent by a base station,the interference parameters comprising information about signalsexpected to cause intra-cell or inter-cell interference; and processreceived signals using the interference parameters to suppress theintra-cell or inter-cell interference, wherein the interferenceparameters are configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC)-signaling, andwherein the interference parameters include a first parameter indicativeof a power ratio of a neighboring cell and a second parameter indicativeof a cell identification of the neighboring cell.
 17. The user equipmentof claim 16, wherein the interference parameters identify one or moreof: Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) antenna ports; DMRS antennaport scrambling sequence initialization identification number (nSCID); apower level of an interference signal; a transmission rank of aninterference signal; a modulation order of an interference signal; acode rate of an interference signal; a Radio Network TemporaryIdentifier (RNTI) of an interference signal; a cell ID of a neighboringinterfering cell; and a System-Frame-Number (SFN) of an interferencesignal.
 18. A base station, comprising: a processor circuit configuredto: receive interference parameters associated with interference signalsreceived by a user equipment device, wherein the interference signalsare generated by the base station or by a neighboring base station;transmit the interference parameters to the user equipment, wherein theinterference parameters are configured by Radio Resource Control(RRC)-signaling, and wherein the interference parameters include a firstparameter indicative of a power ratio of a neighboring cell and a secondparameter indicative of a cell identification of the neighboring cell.19. The base station of claim 18, wherein the interference parametersidentify a number of interference signals that may affect the userequipment.
 20. A method, comprising: receiving, at a user equipment(UE), two or more parameters via Radio Resource Control (RRC)-signaling;and processing a received signal at the UE using at least one of the twoor more parameters, wherein the two or more parameters include a firstparameter indicative of a power ratio of a neighboring cell and a secondparameter indicative of a cell identification of the neighboring cell.21. The method of claim 20, wherein the two or more parameters furtherinclude a third parameter indicative of a transmission rank of a signalfrom the neighboring cell.
 22. A user equipment (UE), comprising one ormore processors configured to: receive two or more parameters via RadioResource Control (RRC)-signaling; and process a received signal using atleast one of the two or more parameters, wherein the two or moreparameters include a first parameter indicative of a power ratio of aneighboring cell and a second parameter indicative of a cellidentification of the neighboring cell.
 23. The UE of claim 22, whereinthe two or more parameters further include a third parameter indicativeof a transmission rank of a signal from the neighboring cell.
 24. A userequipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver configured to receive two ormore parameters via Radio Resource Control (RRC)-signaling; and aprocessor configured to process a received signal using at least one ofthe two or more parameters, wherein the two or more parameters include afirst parameter indicative of a power ratio of a neighboring cell and asecond parameter indicative of a cell identification of the neighboringcell.
 25. The UE of claim 24, wherein the two or more parameters furtherinclude a third parameter indicative of a transmission rank of a signalfrom the neighboring cell.